US20090052865A1 - Broadcast receiver and broadcast receiving method - Google Patents

Abstract

Permanent recording continuation is prevented and a recorded content is guaranteed to be surely recorded by prescribe amount (for prescribed time). For that purpose, a temporary storing area is secured in advance on a recording medium by prescribed amount. When a temporary storing operation caused by temporary interruption is conducted, sequential recording is performed from the top of the temporary storing area and when the area is filled with the recorded content, overwrite-recording is performed from the top of the area. A recording stopping time then set to a prescribed time point from a recording start.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
• This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-117284, filed Apr. 14, 2005, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND
• 1. Field
• Embodiments of the present invention relate to a broadcast receiver and a broadcast receiving method. More specifically, one embodiment of the present invention relates to improvement in a recording function.
• 2. Description of the Related Art
• In recent years, an information recording medium such as a hard disk and an optical disk as a recording medium has had its storage capacity increased. Therefore, a method and an apparatus for automatically recording a desired program on a recording medium by connecting a recording/reproducing device using such an information recording medium to, for example, a television receiver have been available.
• In general, program recording reservation information is prepared by using electronic program guide (EPG) information so as to realize an automatic recording function and an automatic recording/reproducing apparatus. It has been taken into consideration for a device to automatically set the recording reservation information by automatically retrieving a program which seems to be relevant to a concerned category depending on the EPG information when a user specified a desired category.
• The automatic recording/reproducing apparatus has a temporary storing function to record a program so as to view it later if the user presses a recording button when the user has to get away from the place where the apparatus is placed during viewing of the program (refer to, for example, patent document of Japanese Patent Application Publication (KOKAI) No. 2002-191005).
• The temporary storing function starts an operation with conducting a recording operation when the user interrupts the viewing to get away from the place. However, unless the user releases the recording operation, there is a possibility that the temporary storing function continues its operation permanently and there is a problem that a storage device is shortened in its service life. There has been a conventionally conceived method, wherein the method acquires a termination time of the program with the temporary storing operation conducted therefore from an electronic program table and automatically stops the recording operation once the termination time has come.
• However, according to this method, some interruption timing (timing to start temporary storing or recording operation) causes a problem sometimes. It is assumed that, for example, the viewer wants to watch a program B. And programs A and B are assumed to be broadcasted sequentially in the order. Furthermore, it is assumed that the viewer stands by while the program A is on the air. In this case, if the temporary storing or recording operation is required before the program A comes to end, the viewer cannot record the next program B sometimes. This is because the automatic recording/reproducing apparatus acquires the termination time of the program A from the electronic program table and automatically stops recording once the termination time has come.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
• A general architecture that implements the various feature of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrate embodiments of the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention.
• FIG. 1 is an exemplary view for schematically explaining a digital television broadcast receiver with the present invention adopted thereto;
• FIG. 2 is an exemplary view showing an external view of the broadcast receiver inFIG. 1;
• FIG. 3 is an exemplary view for further specifically showing a configuration of an inside of the broadcast receiver inFIG. 1;
• FIG. 4 is an exemplary view for schematically explaining a remote controller used in the broadcast receiver of the present invention;
• FIG. 5 is an exemplary flowchart when the broadcast receiver inFIG. 1 records a program on the basis of EPG information;
• FIG. 6 is an exemplary view showing an example when the broadcast receiver inFIG. 1 displays program information on a video display unit;
• FIG. 7 is an exemplary view showing an example of a screen when a slight-time recording function unit is operated in the broadcast receiver of the present invention;
• FIG. 8 is an exemplary view showing an example of a screen in an initial stage when the slight-time recording function unit is operated in the broadcast receiver of the present invention;
• FIG. 9 is an exemplary view showing an example of a screen before a revolving (or chasing) reproduction function becomes available when the slight-time recording function unit is operated and after recording is started in the broadcast receiver of the present invention;
• FIG. 10 is an exemplary view showing an example of a screen when the revolving reproduction function becomes possible, when the slight-time recording function unit is operated and after the recording is started in the broadcast receiver of the present invention;
• FIG. 11 is an exemplary view showing an example of a screen during recording when the slight-time recording function unit is operated and the revolving reproduction becomes available in the broadcast receiver of the present invention;
• FIG. 12 is an exemplary view showing an example of an initial screen when a user returns back to a place where the broadcast receiver is placed to conduct a reproducing operation and shifts the broadcast receiver to preparation of the revolving reproduction;
• FIG. 13 is an exemplary view showing an aspect of a change of a color image to a monochrome image when the user shifts the broadcast receiver to the preparation of the revolving reproduction;
• FIG. 14 is an exemplary view showing an aspect in which the state inFIG. 13 has further progressed and a screen has become completely dark;
• FIG. 15 is an exemplary view showing an aspect in which a video recorded with slight-time recording is brought into a revolving reproduction state;
• FIG. 16 is an exemplary view showing an example of displaying an operation panel on a screen during the revolving reproduction;
• FIG. 17 is an exemplary view showing an example of the screen during the revolving reproduction of a temporarily stored and recorded content;
• FIG. 18 is an exemplary view showing an example of another screen during the revolving reproduction of the temporarily stored and recorded content;
• FIG. 19 is an exemplary view showing a further other screen during the revolving reproduction of the video recorded with slight-time recording;
• FIG. 20 is an exemplary view showing an example of a screen used in the case that the user wants to confirm a screen of a channel different from a broadcast and a channel being on the air to be now in slight-time recording, immediately after starting the slight-time recording;
• FIG. 21 is an exemplary block diagram extracting and showing featured parts of the present invention;
• FIG. 22 is an exemplary flowchart for explaining operations of the featured parts of the present invention; and
• FIG. 23 is an exemplary flowchart for explaining an operation of acountermeasure processor56cwhen the power of the broadcast receiver of the present invention is shut off.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
• Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be explained by referring to the drawings. At first, we will schematically explain a broadcast receiver with the present invention adopted thereto.
• One embodiment of the present invention provides a broadcast receiver and a broadcast receiving method capable of preventing a permanent recording continuation and surely guaranteeing recording of a recording content by a prescribed amount (for a prescribed time). The embodiment of the invention has recording means for recording the display signals one after another on the recoding medium when a temporary storing operation is input, and means for automatically stopping the temporary storing operation when a prescribed time period has elapsed from a recording start by the temporary storing operation.
• Therefore, the embodiment of the present invention can prevent the permanent recording continuation and also surely guarantee recording of the recording content by the prescribed capacity (for the prescribed time).
• FIG. 1 schematically shows an external appearance of a digitaltelevision broadcast receiver11 to be explained in each embodiment and an example of a network system configured around thebroadcast receiver11.
• Thebroadcast receiver11 is composed mainly of athin cabinet12 and asupport base13 making thecabinet12 raised and supported. Thecabinet12 is provided with such as a flat panel typevideo display unit14 composed of a liquid crystal display panel or the like, aloudspeaker15, anoperation unit16, and alight receiving unit18 to receive operation information transmitted from aremote controller17.
• Thebroadcast receiver11 is adapted to receive a firstdetachable memory card19 such as a Secure Digital (SD) memory card, a Multimedia Card (MMC) or a Memory Stick, and performs recording/reproducing of information about such as a program or a photograph to and from thefirst memory card19.
• Thebroadcast receiver11 is further adapted to receive a second detachable memory card (IC card)20 with, for example, contract information recorded thereon and performs recording/reproducing of information to and from thesecond memory card20.
• Thebroadcast receiver11 is provided with a first local area network (LAN)terminal21, asecond LAN terminal22, a universal serial bus (USB)terminal23 and ani.Link terminal24.
• Among these parts, thefirst LAN terminal21 is used as a LAN-compatible HDD dedicated port. Thefirst LAN terminal21 is connected to a LAN-compatible HDD25 being a network attached storage (NAS). Thefirst LAN terminal21 is used to record/reproduce information to and from through a network (e.g., Ethernet network).
• As mentioned above, by providing thefirst LAN terminal21 to be the LAN-compatible HDD dedicated port, thebroadcast receiver11 can stably record a program with a high image quality to theHDD25 without being influenced by other network environment or the status of use of the network.
• Thesecond LAN terminal22 is used as a general LAN-compatible port using Ethernet. Thesecond LAN terminal22 is connected to equipment, for example, a LAN-compatible HDD port27, a personal computer (PC)28, and a digital versatile disk (DVD)recorder29 with a built-in HDD through ahub26 and used to communicate information between the equipment and thebroadcast receiver11.
• Since digital information communicated through thesecond LAN terminal22 is control information, theDVD recorder29 utilizes a dedicatedanalog transmission path30 to transmit analog information of video and sound to thebroadcast receiver11.
• Thesecond LAN terminal22 is connected to, for example, anetwork32 such as the Internet via abroadband router31 connected to thehub26 and used to communicate information between aPC33, acellular phone34 or the like, and thebroadcast receiver11 via thenetwork32.
• TheUSB terminal23 is used as a general USB-compatible port, connected to, for example, acellular phone36, adigital camera37, a card reader/writer38 for a memory card, anHDD39 or akeyboard40. The USB terminal is used to make information transmissions between the equipment and thebroadcast receiver11.
• The foregoingi.Link terminal24 serially connects an AV-HDD41, a digital (D)-video home system (VHS)42, etc. and supports information transmissions between the equipment and thebroadcast receiver11.
• Here, the AV-HDD41 connected to thei.Link terminal24 is shown outside thebroadcast receiver11 inFIG. 1; however, it is actually incorporated in thesupport base13. That is, the AV-HDD41 is integrated with thebroadcast receiver11.
• FIG. 2 shows the external appearance of the foregoingbroadcast receiver11. The AV-HDD41 is incorporated in the support bas13.
• FIG. 3 shows the principle signal processing series of the foregoingbroadcast receiver11. That is, a satellite digital television broadcast signal, received at afirst antenna43 for receiving DBS digital broadcasts, is supplied to atuner45 for satellite digital broadcast through aninput terminal44, and thetuner45 tunes a broadcast signal of a desired channel.
• The broadcast signal tuned by thetuner45 is supplied to a phase shift keying (PSK) demodulator46 to be demodulated to a digital video signal and a digital sound signal, which are output to asignal processor47.
• And thebroadcast receiver11 also has ananalog tuner68 for receiving a terrestrial analog signal. Ananalog demodulator69 demodulates the signal received by theanalog tuner68 to output it to thesignal processor47.
• A terrestrial digital television broadcast signal, received at asecond antenna48 for receiving terrestrial digital broadcast, is supplied to atuner50 for the terrestrial digital television broadcast via aninput terminal49. Thetuner50 tunes the broadcast signal of the desired channel.
• The broadcast signal tuned by thetuner50 is supplied to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) demodulator51 to be demodulated to a digital video signal and a digital sound signal then are supplied to thesignal processor47.
• Thesignal processor47 selectively conducts prescribed digital signal processing to the digital video signals and sound signals supplied from thePSK demodulator46 and further from theOFDM demodulator51. Thesignal processor47 processes the video signals and sound signals supplied from theanalog demodulator69 and further from the line input terminals, and outputs an output signal to agraphics processor52 and a sound processor53.
• Among the processors, thegraphics processor52 has a function to superimpose an on-screen display (OSD) signal generated from anOSD signal generator54 on the digital video signal supplied from thesignal processor47 and to output the superimposed signal. Thegraphics processor52 can selectively output the video signal output from thesignal processor47 and the OSD signal output from theOSD signal generator54 and also combine to output both outputs so that both outputs configures a half of a screen, respectively.
• The digital video signal output from thegraphics processor52 is supplied to avideo processor55. Thevideo processor55 converts the input digital video signal into an analog video signal in a format possible to be displayed on thevideo display unit14 and outputs the analog video signal to thevideo display unit14 to produce a video display.
• The sound processor53 converts the input digital sound signal into an analog sound signal in a format that can be reproduced by theloudspeaker15 and outputs the analog sound signal to theloudspeaker15 to make a sound reproduction.
• As further shown inFIG. 2, thebroadcast receiver11 further comprises acontrol unit56 to integrally control the whole operations including the foregoing various receiving operations. Thecontrol unit56 has a built-in central processing unit (CPU), which receives operation information from theoperation unit16, or receives operation information transmitted from theremote controller17 and respectively controls each part so as to reflect operation contents thereto.
• In this case, thecontrol unit56 mainly uses a read only memory (ROM)57 with a control program to be executed by the CPU stored thereon, a random access memory (RAM)58 to provide an operation area to the CPU and anonvolatile memory59 to which a variety of items of setting information and control information are stored.
• Thecontrol unit56 is connected to acard holder61 to which thefirst memory card19 can be attached through acard interface60. Thecontrol unit56 is adapted to support the exchange of information transmissions with thefirst memory card19 attached to thecard holder61 through thecard interface60.
• Thecontrol unit56 is further connected to acard holder63 to which thesecond memory card20 can be attached through acard interface62. Thecontrol unit56 thereby can communicate information with thesecond memory card20 attached to thecard holder63 through thecard interface62.
• Thecontrol unit56 is also connected to thefirst LAN terminal21 through acommunication interface64. Thecontrol unit56 thereby can communicate with the LAN-compatible HDD25 connected to thefirst LAN terminal21 through thecommunication interface64. In this case, thecontrol unit56 has a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server function and assigns an Internet protocol (IP) address to the LAN-compatible HDD25 connected to thefirst LAN terminal21 to control theHDD25.
• Thecontrol unit56 is further connected to thesecond LAN terminal22 through acommunication interface65. Thecontrol unit56 thereby can communicate with any equipment (refer toFIG. 1) connected to thesecond LAN terminal22 through thecommunication interface65.
• Thecontrol unit56 is further connected to theUSB terminal23 through aUSB interface66. Thecontrol unit56 thereby can communicate with any equipment (refer toFIG. 1) connected to theUSB terminal23 through theUSB interface66.
• Furthermore, thecontrol unit56 is connected to the i.Link (registered trademark) terminal24 through ani.Link interface67. Thereby, thecontrol unit56 can communicate with any equipment (refer toFIG. 1) connected to thei.Link terminal24 through thei.Link interface67.
• Thecontrol unit56 further includes a reserved programrecording control unit56ato reserve a recording program in advance to record it on a recording medium and a “slight-time recording function” executed by a temporarystoring control unit56b(may be referred to as loop recording control unit) as mentioned blow. Both reserved programrecording control unit56aand temporarystoring control unit56brefer to a timer, respectively. We will further describe in detail about these further included units later.
• FIG. 4 shows the external appearance of theremote controller17. Theremote controller17 mainly comprises apower key17a,input switching keys17b,direct tuning keys17cfor satellite digital broadcast channels,direct tuning keys17dfor terrestrial broadcast channels, a quick key17e, acursor key17f, a determination key17g, a program table key17h,page switching keys17i, a face net (registered trademark) (navigation)key17j, areturn key17k, a terminate key17l, color keys in blue, red, green and yellow17m, a channel up and down key17n, a sound volume adjusting key17o, etc. Furthermore, theremote controller17 has a “slight-time” key17qand a “slight-skip” key17r. We will describe how to use these twokeys17qand17rlater.
• FIG. 5 shows the flowchart for explaining the operations of thebroadcast receiver11 in recording program into the digital recording equipment among each of the equipment connected to the terminals21-24 of thebroadcast receiver11. That is, when processing is started resulting form a request of the recording of the program (step S1), thecontrol unit56 inFIG. 3 displays the program table as shown inFIG. 6 on thevideo display unit14, based on the electronic program guide (EPG) information acquired from the broadcast signal (step S2).
• The user then makes recording reservation setting of the desired programs on the basis of the displayed program table (step S3). In this setting, thebroadcast receiver11 selects the programs to be recorded from the program table and also selects to set the digital recording equipment to which the reservation-set program is recorded.
• Thecontrol unit56 executes a recording operation so as to record the reservation-set program into the reservation-set digital recording equipment when it has reached the preset time set for the recording reservation (step S4).
• Thecontrol unit56 then determines whether or not the program recording operation has normally completed (step S5), and if it is determined that the recording operation has completed normally (YES, in step S5), thebroadcast receiver11 records equipment information (equipment ID, equipment name, shared holder name, etc.) to specify the digital recording equipment which has performed recording. Thebroadcast receiver11 further records event information (event ID, channel number, title, content description, category, recording range, image quality mode, etc.) related to the recorded program into the nonvolatile memory59 (step S6) and terminates the processing described herein (step S7).
• If it is determined that the operation has not completed normally (NO, in step S5), thecontrol unit56 inFIG. 3 displays a message indicating the fact that the operation has not completed normally onto thevideo display unit14 inFIG. 1 (step S8) and terminates the processing (step S7).
• According to the above-mentioned recording operations, the user can arbitrarily select multiple sets of digital recording equipment connected to each terminal21-24 of thebroadcast receiver11 and record programs sequentially.
• FIG. 7 toFIG. 20 show examples aspects in which the screens to explain the featured parts of thebroadcast receiver11 go on changing. Thisbroadcast receiver11 has the slight-time recording function, and when fulfilling this function, thebroadcast receiver11 utilize a recording medium such as theHDD25 and secures a prescribed use capacity or a capacity of a fixed recording time (for example, six hours).
• FIG. 7 shows an example of a screen which is appeared when a user presses the slight-time key17qof theremote controller17 for the purpose of getting away from the place where thebroadcast receiver11 is placed. The screen maintains a motion image going on the air and displays (for about 6 seconds) a comment of “Slight-time” (refer to center of screen).
• Next, the screen shifts to a state shown inFIG. 8. The screen inFIG. 8 displays a state with the motion image being on the air maintained thereon and displays a comment of “Slight-time is getting ready” (refer to lower right on screen).
• Further next, the screen shifts to a state shown inFIG. 9. Here, a comment of “Slight-time recording start” appears on the screen inFIG. 9 (refer to lower right on screen). The viewer looks the comment of “Slight-time recording start” then can recognize the fact that the slight-time recording has started.
• The screen sifts from the state shown inFIG. 9 to a state shown inFIG. 10. Here, a comment of “Slight-time recording in progress, return back time by ‘Slight-time’ key” (refer to lower right on screen). The sift to this screen means that a certain amount of recorded information is stored on the recording medium and also means that thebroadcast receiver11 becomes possible to perform the revolving reproduction.
• FIG. 11 shows a screen showing the continuation of the temporary storing. At this time, the screen displays a comment of “Recording in progress” (refer to lower right on screen). This comment allows the viewer to easily confirm whether or not the slight-time recording is in execution when the viewer returns back to the place where thebroadcast receiver11 is placed.
• FIG. 12 shows an example of a screen which appears when the user returns back to the place where thebroadcast receiver11 is placed and presses the slight-time key17q. At this moment, thebroadcast receiver11 starts to prepare to give back a reproduction starting position to a position from which the temporary storing has started, while still keeping on the continuation of the slight-time recording. That is to say, thebroadcast receiver11 shifts to the preparation of the revolving reproduction. At this moment, the screen displays a comment of “Wait a second, please” and also displays an illustration indicating a model of a hand of a clock (refer to center of screen). The hand of the clock then rotates counterclockwise and gives an impression to the viewer as if time went back.
• FIG. 13 shows an aspect that time has passed with the state shown inFIG. 12 and the color image has changed into the monochrome image. The aspect further changes into a muted state with lowering a sound volume gradually.
• FIG. 14 shows an aspect that the state inFIG. 13 further proceeds and the screen becomes completely dark. With such a display performance, the viewer can easily recognize the start of the reproduction of the slight-time recorded content, through the display on the screen.
• FIG. 15 shows the aspect that the slight-time recorded video has brought into the revolving reproduction state. The revolving reproduction means a reproduction of an already recorded content while recording a video being on the air in real time. On this screen for the revolving reproduction, a time difference between time on a reproduction screen (example inFIG. 14: 6:23:52) and actual time (example inFIG. 14: 3 minutes and 22 seconds delay) is displayed (refer to lower right inFIG. 14). Accordingly, the viewer can recognize the time difference between the image being on the air and the image now in revolving reproduction. The user may press the slight-(time)-skip key17ragain or decide any specific key to be pressed.
• In the state inFIG. 15, when operating the slight-skip key17r, the viewer can skip a reproduction position. The viewer may skip, for example, a video in a commercial message or a scene of a video in which the viewer is not interested, by operating the slight-skip key17r. When the user catches up on the screen of the program going on the air by operating the slight-time skip key, the temporary storing processing (loop recording processing) is terminated.
• FIG. 16 shows an example of a display of an operation panel on a screen (refer to lower right on screen). This screen is displayed, for example, at an operation of a specific key (for example, the forgoing slight-skip key17r) or at a touch of the channel up and down key17n. Thereby, when selecting a functional mark on the operation panel by thecursor key17fand pressing the determination key17g, the user can execute pause, fast-forward reproduction, reverse reproduction, etc.
• FIG. 17 shows a screen during revolving reproduction of a temporarily stored and recorded content. At this time, a clock mark and also a comment of “Reproduction in progress” are displayed so that the user can catch the aspect of the revolving reproduction (refer to lower right on screen).
• FIG. 18 shows an example of another screen during revolving reproduction of the temporary stored/recorded content. This example shows one aspect in which the viewer has selected a channel during the revolving reproduction. When the channel is selected, the kind and the channel of the selected broadcast program are displayed and also its screen display is displayed. And the fact that the revolving reproduction of the slight-time recording is in progress is also displayed in a comment so as to be recognized by the viewer (refer to upper right on screen). The lower left on the screen may displays information on a current broadcast-program name and a broadcast time-band.
• FIG. 19 shows an example of other screen for use in the event that the viewer is interested in other channels being on the air during the revolving reproduction of the slight-time recorded video. When performing a selection operation during the revolving reproduction, the viewer can switch over to a reproduction screen of the selected broadcast channel. At this moment, the comment of “Slight-time in progress” is displayed so as to make the slight-time recording, namely, the temporary storing operation is in progress be recognized easily, and it is displayed that which recording medium has been proceeding the temporary storing processing. The example inFIG. 19 shows that the slight-time recorded video is temporarily stored on the built-in HDD. And it is displayed that the kind of broadcast and channel number of the broadcast program with the slight-time recording set therefore are, for example, BS and181.
• Accordingly, thebroadcast receiver11 may also view the broadcast going on the air by selecting the channel even in the middle of the revolving reproduction of the slight-time recorded program.
• FIG. 20 shows a screen for use in the case that the viewer wants to confirm a screen of a channel different from a broadcast and a channel in the slight-time recording immediately after the start of the slight-time recording. This screen can be obtained by operating the channel up down key17nfor channel selection after the slight-time key17qis pressed. In this case, since the channel selection has performed immediately after the start of the slight-time recording, the screen does not display a delay time related to the revolving reproduction. The screen showing the selected broadcast and the kind and channel thereof are displayed (the screen of the example inFIG. 20 displays the 011 channel of a terrestrial digital broadcast). In contrast, the screen displays that the kind and channel of the broadcast with the slight-time recording set thereto are, for example, BS and181 so that the viewer can recognize that the slight-time recording has already started.
• FIG. 21 shows the block diagram extracting the featured parts regarding the present invention. Thecontrol unit56 includes the reserved programrecording control unit56aand the temporarystoring control unit56bas a main recording control unit to achieve recording. The reserved programrecording control unit56ais a control unit to automatically achieve recording reserved programs by referring to recording reservation information prepared by using such the electronic program table shown inFIG. 6. On the other hand, the temporarystoring control unit56bis a control unit to establish the temporary storing of the program being on the air by operating the slight-time key17q.
• The temporarystoring control unit56bhas a videooutput control unit56b1 as one of further classified function blocks. The videooutput control unit56b1 control, as described with reference to the screens inFIG. 7 toFIG. 20, the contents on the screens in response to the operation states and operation situations of thebroadcast receiver11 so as to allow the user to easily recognize the current operation states thereof. A recordingoperation control unit56b2 is a control unit to achieve the temporary storing when the slight-time key17qis pressed. A reproductionoperation control unit56b3 is a control unit to realize the revolving reproduction, fast-forward reproduction or skip reproduction in the case of reproduction of the temporarily recorded contents.
• Thecontrol unit56 has an operationinput determining unit56d. It is natural that the operation of the temporarystoring control unit56bis decided in response to the determination result from the operationinput determining unit56d. Thecontrol unit56 further has thecountermeasure processor56cfor a time at power-off. We will go into details of the operation of thecountermeasure processor56clater.
• FIG. 22 shows an exemplary flowchart of operations and functions on the basis of the control by the temporarystoring control unit56b. The temporary storing area is secured (step Sa1). The AV-HDD41 or the like secures the temporary storing area therein. The timing of the secure of the temporary storing area may be secured at the time of pressing of the slight-time key17qor before the pressing thereof (step Sa1). Next, thecontrol unit56 determines whether or not the temporary storing operation has been input (step Sa2), and if the temporary storing operation has been performed, then thecontrol unit56 makes a shift to a temporary storing operation (step Sa3). Here, thebroadcast receiver11 records a program one after another from the top of the temporary storing area then overwrite-records from the top thereof after the temporary storing area is filled the recorded program. That is, the loop recording is performed. During the temporary storing, thecontrol unit56 determines whether or not a prescribed time period has elapsed or power has been shut off (step Sa4). If the prescribed time period has elapsed or the power has been shut off, thecontrol unit56 stops the position storing (step Sa5).
• FIG. 23 is the exemplary flowchart showing the operation of thecountermeasure processor56c, by which it is determined whether power-off operation has been conducted or not (steps S11 and S12). If the power-off operation has been done, thecountermeasure processor56cdetermines whether or not the recording is now in progress (step S13). If the recording is not in progress, thecountermeasure processor56cshuts off the power (step S14) then terminates the processing of this flowchart.
• If the recording is now in progress, thecountermeasure processor56cdetermines whether the temporary storing (slight-time recording) is in progress or not (step S15). If thebroadcast receiver11 is now in the temporary storing operation, thebroadcast receiver11 recognizes that an object of the temporary storing operation has achieved then the power is shut off in accordance with the operation input. Otherwise stated, thecountermeasure processor56cdetermines whether the reserved program is in progress or not (step S16). If the reserved program recording is not in progress, thecountermeasure processor56cshuts off the power, but otherwise stated, thecountermeasure processor56creleases a power-off command to maintain power-on (step S17) then terminates the processing in this flowchart.
• A mentioned above, thebroadcast receiver11 can secure the temporary storing area on the recording medium in advance. And when the temporary storing operation is conducted, thebroadcast receiver11 records the program one after another from the top of the temporary storing area. When the temporary storing area has been filled with the recorded program, thebroadcast receiver11 performs overwrite-recording from the top of the area. That is, the loop recording is processed. Then, when the prescribed time period has elapsed after the recording is started by the temporary storing operation, thebroadcast receiver11 automatically stops the temporary storing operation. Therefore, even if the viewer forgets to release the loop recording operation, thebroadcast receiver11 can prevent the permanent recording continuation to suppress a sudden deterioration in the recording medium. In addition, the recording contents may be certainly recorded by prescribed amount (for prescribed time).
• When the power-off operation is input, thebroadcast receiver11 determines whether it is in the state of the temporary storing operation or in the state of the reserved program recording operation. The determination result resulted in the state of the temporary storing operation may make the power shut off, and otherwise stated, may maintain the power-on unchanged. Accordingly, a recording failure of the reserved program may be avoided.
• Furthermore, when the temporary storing operation is conducted, the motion image is maintained in a background on the screen then the comments indicating each stage of the preparation start of the temporary storing, the preparation in progress, the recording start and the recording in progress, as each mentioned inFIG. 7 toFIG. 20. Thereby, the user can confirm the fact that the temporary storing is in progress through the comment on the screen. The screen is a response to the operation by the user, so that the user can feels a sense of reassurance.
• In the state of the temporary storing operation, the reproduction operation starts the revolving reproduction of the part of the recorded program. When the reproduction position has caught up the slight-time recording position by the fast-forward reproduction or the skip reproduction, the broadcast receiver switches over the reproduction screen to the screen of the program being on the air.
• In the state of the temporary storing operation, the reproduction operation shifts the screen of the motion image from a color image to a monochrome image gradually and starts the revolving reproduction of the recorded part after deleting the motion image once. Accordingly, the user can easily recognize that thebroadcast receiver11 has shifted to the revolving reproduction.
• And in the state of the temporary storing operation, when the reproduction operation is conducted, thebroadcast receiver11 produces a screen display the time information on the reproduction position and the time difference information between the recording position and the reproduction position. Thebroadcast receiver11 therefore can recognize the situation of the revolving reproduction and make the recognition be a determination material to determine whether or not thebroadcast receiver11 performs the fast-forward reproduction or the skip reproduction.
• While certain embodiments of the inventions have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.

Claims (8)

1.-14. (canceled)

15. A recording apparatus, comprising:

a recording module configured to record a program on a recording medium; and

a notification module configured to notify a start of recording by the recording module, after a predetermined time elapses from a time when an operation for starting the recording is performed.

16. The apparatus ofclaim 15, wherein the predetermined time is a waiting time which is set in consideration of a preparation time required for starting the recording.

17. The apparatus ofclaim 15, further comprising a display module configured to display a comment indicating the start of the recording.

18. The apparatus ofclaim 15, further comprising a display module configured to display a comment indicating, during the predetermined time, the preparation required to start the recording.

19. The apparatus ofclaim 15, further comprising a receiving module which receives the program.

20. A recording apparatus, comprising:

a recording module which records a program on a recording medium; and

a display which displays a comment indicating preparation which is required to start recording from a time when an operation for starting the recording is performed.

21. A recording apparatus, comprising:

a recording module configured to record a program on a recording medium; and

a notification module configured to notify a user, in stages, of at least two of starting of a preparation of recording, the preparation of the recording, and a performing of the recording, from a time when an operation for starting the recording is performed.

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